Friday, November 16, 2012

Boomer's Urban Renewal: Avoiding the Upsets in Week 12

Bill Snyder, Kansas State's long-time Head Coach, has the Wildcats justtwo wins, away from playing in the BCS Championship Game.

Each of the four remaining undefeated teams still have a number of goals in front of them, most notability winning this week, with that in mind the theme for the week is avoiding the upset. First, the new #1 team in the land this week, the K-State Wildcats (10-0) led by long-time Head Coach Bill Snyder & Heisman frontrunner QB Colin Klein travel down to Waco, Texas, to take on a Baylor Bears (4-5) squad looking to pull off the upset. The Wildcats come into the game as a 12-point favorite and look to shutdown a Bears offensive attack that ranks 2nd in the nation in passing (368 ypg) and 7th in the nation in offensive scoring (43 ppg). Out in the pacific northwest, the #2 Oregon Ducks (10-0) host the #13 Stanford Cardinal (8-2), in the game of the week (8:00PM EST, ABC). The #3 team in the land, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10-0) host the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (5-5), in South Bend, a place the Irish haven't looked very good at, in recent weeks. The last remaining undefeated team in action this week, Ohio State Buckeyes (10-0), are two wins away from perfection in this bowl-banned season, travel up to Madison, WI to take on the Wisconsin Badgers (7-3), who are actually a 2-point favorite. It's looking like another outstanding weekend of CFB, starting live in the early hours of Saturday morning, out west from Eugene, OR for College Gameday Live 10PM on ESPN. Saturday's in the fall, nothing better.

The Battle of LA. USC-UCLA rivalry is once again renewed, this time in the Rose Bowl home of the Bruins. It's been a one-sided series since 1999, with USC winning the past 12 out of 13 meetings vs. UCLA. The winner of this one, clinches the PAC-12 South division and a berth in the PAC-12 Championship Game (November 30th).

Wake Forest at #3 Notre Dame (3:30, NBC)

The Fighting Irish, are off to their first 10-0 start since 1993, look to keep their perfect season alive Saturday, when they honor the Irish Seniors on Senior Day in the final home game of the season. The Irish, actually have looked better away from South Bend this season (+127 margin of victory) then they have at home (+23 margin of victory).

Ohio State at Wisconsin (3:30, ABC)

This game is turning into a pretty heated rivalry in recent years, as the two teams have split the past two meetings, with the Badgers winning in Madison in 2010 against an undefeated Buckeyes squad while the Buckeyes got revenge in Columbus a season ago, if you don't remember how that one ended.

#12 Oklahoma at West Virginia (7:00, FOX)

A game a lot of people thought would decide the Big XII Conference Championship this season, hasn't exactly turned out that way. While the Sooners, who can keep their BCS chances alive (and possibly Big 12 chances) with a win travel to Morgantown to take on a Mountaineers squad desperate to pull off the upset & snap a 4-game losing skid, after starting the season, 5-0.

#1 Kansas State at Baylor (8:00, ESPN)

While the Wildcats have enjoyed being the #1 team in the land, they know the job is far from over at this point. With two more games remaining on the schedule, K-State heads down into Texas, to take on a Bears squad just waiting to pull off the upset against the #1 team in the nation. K-State won last seasons thrilling meeting between the two teams by one-point (36-35) in the Little Apple.

The Ducks in the past two seasons ('10 & '11) have sort of been Stanford's kryptonite, handing the Cardinal their only two regular season losses in the past two seasons. Stanford comes into this one with two-regular season losses already on the season, while the Ducks have looked like the best team in the nation (at least offensively) all season. Can the Cardinal D find a way to slow down the Quack Attack?